Sitting Duck
by X-Feli-Chan-X
Summary: In which the Flame is a sitting duck. Implied RoyXEd. This fic is cross posted on AO3


**Hello all!**

 **I am back with another part of the Superhero AU series!**

 **This was originally finished last October, but was only type up a week ago. Since the last fic, I have gotten a job that has taken me out of retail hell and has me working as a secretary at a small business. Which of course is great for this AU's background.**

 **Also recently I have gotten obsessed with GameHouse games, their biggest game title is Delicious Emily. I totally suggest it to everyone. The games are worth the money.**

 **Anyways!**

 **I hope you will all enjoy this next installment!**

* * *

The Flame ducked down and rolled behind a car just as a jet of water came crashing down on where he'd previously been. Before he could properly take a breath, water slammed against the car he had been hiding behind. The windows above him burst at the sudden pressure. He pressed himself closer into the car to avoid the majority of the water and glass coming from the broken windows.

"Hope they have Super Insurance," Flame muttered as water began pooling at his feet. An odd movement on the ground a few feet away caught his attention. He darted behind another nearby car on gut instinct. Glancing back to where he had come from, he cursed. All of the water on the street had turned to ice. If he hadn't moved when he had...well he would have been more of a sitting duck than he already was.

He hated dealing with water or ice Supers, but it was in the unofficial job description. He wished that Ice Queen would hurry up with her backup as the only other elemental Super on the team.

"Flame! Come out and meet your end!" a voice called from a few yards away.

' _Yes,'_ Flame thought, with a roll of his eyes. _'I'll just come waltzing out into the open so you can stab me through with an icicle.'_ He tensed as he heard thick-soled boots stepping on the ice, cracking it. Mentally, he cursed and hunched his shoulders further.

"The polar ice caps are melting and it is affecting the wildlife and will soon impact all of humanity." Freeze shouted as he continued his search for the Flame, flipping cars at random with the ice spikes he was creating. "Once I get rid of you, others will see the error of their ways and the world will change!"

He wanted to laugh, he really did, but he knew he needed to be as careful and quiet as possible while he thought out his next move. He didn't want to attack with his fire, because so far the Freeze hadn't been smart enough to douse him with water and he wanted to continue to be as dry as possible. Retreat was not an option either; he couldn't leave while a threat to his city was still at large in broad daylight. At least it wasn't rush hour -though this was seriously cutting into his lunch.

Flame didn't quite know how it happened, one moment he had been listening to Freeze stomping closer on the ice, and the next he had reflexively thrown his arm over his face as he let out a loud sneeze…

There had never been a worse time to sneeze.

The car he had his back to shot up in the air and landed about ten feet away. Flame bravely resisted the urge to scream like a little girl as Freeze stalked closer to him with a rather demented-looking grin on his face.

"Got you."

Flame had had a witty comeback on the tip of his tongue, however it wilted as his eyes took in his surroundings. Every car on his side of the street had been thrown haphazardly around the block and he could hear the sound of one of the news helicopters approaching the area.

He tensed and snapped his fingers, erupting his hands into flames and shooting them at Freeze's face as a distraction. Wasting no time, the Flame turned and started running down the sidewalk, aiming to duck into the nearest alleyway.

However, it seemed luck was not on the Flame's side today. He hissed in pain as the flames on his hands were extinguished and he felt his whole lower half get drenched in freezing water. Within moments, his legs were frozen in ice, stuck where he stood. The ice continued to crawl up his body until it reached his ribcage. Then, as if to seal his doom, his arms were frozen from fingertip to elbow, remaining free from the block of ice encasing his legs,

The Flame panicked for a moment, trying to break the ice on his hands against the ice trapping his legs to no avail. Panting, he continued to try to move anything below his waist but it was no use. He was stuck. _'Well, this was not how I planned on spending my Tuesday. At least I'm not in a budget meeting.'_ Flame thought as he heard Freeze stepping closer. He continued to face downwards at the icy sidewalk as Freeze stepped up to him, and he could hear the helicopter directly overhead.

"Well, Flame, before you atone for the atrocities you have done to the planet-"

Flame valiantly held back his snort of disbelief, still wracking his brain for a way out of his current mess and wondering just where the _hell_ backup was.

"-I think we should show the world just who you really are."

One word ran through his mind as he felt the ice at his waist extend outwards to freeze his already frozen arms in place. _'Shit.'_ His eyes widened behind his mask. He had to do something; if not, it was the end. If it was the end, then that would mean he was finished. And if he was finished, then it was the end. And if it was then end then- Everything snapped into place. He had a plan.

Freeze forcefully raised Flame's face. He bought both hands to either side of the black and white mask, laughter already bubbling from the man's mouth. Laughter which turned to screams the exact moment he went to pull the mask off.

Fire covered every inch of the Flame's body as he spontaneously combusted. Freeze's fingers were singed and the hero did not waste a moment once the ice melted around him and doused his flames. He turned and ran down the street, the mask still perfectly in place.

He heard the Freeze begin to give chase and cursed.

He had gotten lucky that the combustion had actually worked. Due to the water on him previously freezing, he had in a sense dried the water so he could produce flames. However, he knew he wouldn't be able to manage such a feat a second time around: his energy was nearly spent in his last stunt. Hearing the rapidly closing in stomping of cleated boots, he knew he did not buy himself as much time as he had hoped.

Flame had time to blink before the air went out from his lungs as something collided harshly with his stomach. Wincing as he wheezed, desperately trying to refill his lungs, he realized he'd been slung over someone's shoulder and was rapidly rising off the ground. Blurry due to teary eyes, he saw figures fighting, ice clashing against ice on the ground below.

The odd whirring noise he'd been hearing ringing in his ears stopped suddenly and the Flame was dumped onto a rooftop. Still wheezing, he saw the figure he now recognized as the Hawk recalling her grappling wires to the belt of her green and brown uniform.

"You should have waited for backup."

Flame made a face, at the lack of concern the Hawk showed toward him; she had just skipped straight to lecturing him. "He was destroying midtown!" Flame coughed.

"It was a trap," the Hawk hissed as she knelt down next to him.

"You all were behind me," he leaned against one of the building's AC units as his breathing began to regulate.

"Cleaning up the mess you left behind in the office and having to make up excuses."

Flame winced and both of them ducked lower and into the shadows of the city building as a new helicopter swept by.

"Speaking of messes, we need to get you back to the office. Now."

Flame's eyes widened and jaw dropped a little as he turned to look at the Hawk. "But what about Freeze?"

"Iron Fist and Ice Queen can handle him. You are currently in a _budget_ meeting that your secretary and _lunch date_ was very displeased to know you've been _avoiding_ -"

"Shit, the date!" Flame jumped up and grabbed the Hawk by her forearm. "Ed's going to kill me this time for sure."

The Hawk sighed at her teammate's despair, though there was a hint of a smile on her face. As she took the Flame by the waist and adjusted her grappling wires, she continued to speak. " And after the remainder of your lunch, you _will_ be having that budget meeting as repayment for my saving your ass."

Flame could only gawk before definitely not shrieking as the two jumped from the building.


End file.
